clear skies and clear waters

For the past few days the skies have been clearer than they have been for the year and out on the boats we have been able to see the islands of Guadeloupe off to the south, Montserrat puffing away to the South West, Redonda desolate in the West-South-West, Nevis in the West with even St. Kitts a little further North. You rarely will see the skies this clear and it has also been very calm making for glorious boating weather. I have been out the past few days on my little tender which is working great as well as on charter yesterday. We have had a bit of winds out of the North which I guess has kept the African dust pushed further South keeping in nice and clear.

The snorkeling has been equally spectacular on the offshore reefs and I even have gotten into the water!!! These days I find myself waiting for summer before I get in the water (someone always has to stay on the boat you see), but the water has been warm and clear. Too warm many are saying actually. I am saving up for a big hurricane blog soon, but it should be noted that because of the incredibly warm water temps in the tropical Atlantic and Caribbean, the forecasters are expecting an active hurricane season. For once the higher temps are not being blamed on Global Warming though….it seems that a La Nina occurrence is the culprit this time. Don’t get too stressed out though because increased African dust will help prevent the big storms from forming too. It’s a mixed up world we live in these days. Read these very recent interesting articles for more info http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0403-hurricanes.html and http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=66554 ….

Anyway getting back to the topic of clear skies and clear waters. While snorkeling we noticed that although the waters were very clear, there was lots of stuff within it. Upon closer inspection you could see that it contained large amounts of plankton and tiny jellies. Very interesting even though it was extremely difficult to make out exactly what they looked like. I did see some interesting shapes and one such “jelly” actually looked like a tiny tiny dandelion.

Our whales that are passing through at the moment reportedly don’t actually feed on this plankton, but I don’t know why as there is so much of the stuff. Must be too spicy for them or something…”Jerk Plankton” mustn’t be that popular for these North Atlantic feeders. One animal that does eat the stuff is the whale shark and another is the manta ray which both can be seen off Antigua and Barbuda. Although extremely rare, these animals are seen occasionally and I managed to see a whale shark this time last year. They are huge creatures which love to eat plankton, but will also eat small fish as well. Speaking of small fish, yesterday while I was snorkeling I saw a small school of pilchards being chased and preyed upon by yellowtail snappers and oceanic garfish. I don’t often see feeding taking place out on the reef but these poor little pilchards were being slaughtered. One of them managed to escape and swam right up to me to hide I guess. How did it know I don’t like whitebait? It’s not easy out there in the sea. Earlier coming down past the St. James Club we had seen a current line were there was a definite change in water clarity. I thought I saw a school of these pilchards and slowed only to see that it was a huge school of big Jacks feeding on tiny little fish. They looked very similar to the fish that Nemo saved at the end of the famous Disney film although these were free and needed no rescue. When we are lucky to have such clear skies and waters you tend to see so much more. Turtles, rays, dolphins and even whales are easier to spot. This weekend we have several days off for the Easter holidays and I hope this weather holds up. When you are here and do some snorkeling, try to look out for the small things as well.

Many people go snorkeling just expecting to see big fish not ever noticing the abundance of small stuff like pilchards and plankton. Its all cool out there enjoy it if you can.

leaping lizards!!!!

I love saying leaping lizards.. It just sounds funny doesn't it? Anyway today's post will be shorter but kinda is coupled with yesterday's one to do with currents. Currents usually stay fairly constant here in these islands as does most things do to with the weather until there is a tropical disturbance. Hurricanes change everything and all bets are off during a storm. Back in the 1995 and 1998 hurricane seasons we had several monster storms that showed us things that had never been seen in hundreds of years. In fact some archeologists say that Barbuda hadn't had a storm like Louis in over 2000 years. Lets me not get off topic as that whole hurricane topic is way too big for today. Anyway, one of the storms that managed to miss us passed right over our neighbor island to the South and did considerable damage. Guadeloupe's rivers were filled to over capacity and many trees got washed away from their banks. These trees washed into the sea, and on them there were all sorts of animals now afloat in the sea. If all things were left normal, then the trees would have kept following the current stream that I spoke about in the last blog, but this was a hurricane. Hurricanes spin clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and as they approach the prevailing winds change direction. In fact, you can generally know where the storm is depending on which direction the winds blow from. The old people say that when a storm approaches you can put your back to the wind and put you left arm out to the side. Point a finger and that's where the storm is. Generally they move in a WNW motion when they get to these islands too. Anyway as the storm moves by the winds change and it isn't uncommon for the winds to switch 180 degrees as the storm passes. That's what happened at about the same time all the trees were expelled into the sea and the winds stayed out of the west for about 2 days sending these trees quite far into the Atlantic. After the storm finally passed the winds then died and we can deduce that the trees and all the other junk from the storm just sat out there east of the island chain waiting until the winds and currents went back to normal. When they did we started getting all sorts of debris and trees floating up on our shores. Huge trees floated up onto the windward beaches on Antigua and Barbuda. On them were some survivors that had never seen Antigua. Lizards and insects arrived wet and cold looking for a new home. Many died because our vegetation is very different here, but the large Iguana that made it to Barbuda's shoreline managed to survive. Since then I have always seen their clumsy tracks on the beaches there and have spoken too many who have seen them. Anyway, ten days ago some friends and family went over to Barbuda for a little adventure and while we were there I finally saw an iguana. The massive lizard was different than I imagined with darker skin than the ones from Montserrat. It was more beautiful too....I guess the beach life has been good for them, but I was happy to finally see my first one. Mykl saw another just a bit further up the beach so their numbers must be growing. This is such a fantastic example of how life can spread from island to island and further. I think we have seen and are seeing evolutionary history here especially because these animals have had to live in such a different habitat. They can't be eating the same stuff that was available in the lush green habitat of Guadeloupe because Barbuda is dry with very little vegetation. Anyway, something interesting to think about isn't it. Hey this pic is of a message we found in a bottle mixed up with all the flotsam and jetsam on the beach in Barbuda. I have found dozens and dozens over the years but this one had all it's ink erased by water. People rarely seal the bottles well enough. Another good trick is to put rice inside to soak up condensation. Use pencil too and you can even sink the top into some wax to be sure the top is sealed well. I have learned these tricks from the good messages I have found. Anyway enjoy your day.....its glass calm and I am on charter. Love it. The message by the way was from 1999 and was found very close to the water's edge...i have walked that same bit of beach several times over the past year. We think that it missed the caribbean and all other land masses and went around the currents more than one time which is why it took so long to get to a beach. What do you think?

flotsam and jetsam

Growing up on the windward coast here in Antigua, I became fascinated at an early age with flotsam and jetsam. Here is a good definition for both of these words which I found on wikipedia:

“Traditionally, flotsam and jetsam are words that describe goods of potential value that have been thrown into the ocean. There is a technical difference between the two: jetsam has been voluntarily cast into the sea (jettisoned) by the crew of a ship, usually in order to lighten it in an emergency; while flotsam describes goods that are floating on the water without having been thrown in deliberately, often after a shipwreck. Traditionally spelled flotsom and jetsom, the "o" was replaced with "a" in the early twentieth century and have since been out of common usage.”

Whenever I walk any beach facing windward I look along the shoreline for jetsam and flotsam as I find the stuff so interesting. I imagine how it fist got into the water and the journey it’s traveled to get there. The best place I have ever seen for the stuff is the east coast of Barbuda which is where I have spent a great many holidays as a kid and now as a “grownup”. Beachcombing is one of the most relaxing things for me and sometimes I am happy to walk for hours and hours looking for shells and washed up bits and pieces. Of course most of the stuff that washes up is total garbage, but so much of it is more than just trash. If you spend time to think about the negative aspects of this garbage it can be quite depressing for many reasons. I mean I have actually freed several turtles from big green nets out in the Atlantic. Of course this is the most obvious way flotsam can harm animals. I am not sure where this thick green net comes from but its drifts up all over the Caribbean from out in the Atlantic. No fishermen here use it, and I am sure that if I did a little research I could find which county’s fishermen use it. Apart from killing turtles, it covers the reefs as it drifts towards the shore. There isn’t a single section of reef on Barbuda’s windward coast that is without this type of net. I have never seen it myself, but did see a report on TV about whales that had become entangled in it.
At the end of the day, anything at all that floats will end up drifting ashore or getting stuck on a reef someday. Beaches that have people living along them or those that have hotels beside them will probably be cleaned, but remote windward beaches will have flotsam and jetsam piling up until they photo degrade or until they are covered in sand.

People are always surprised to see all the garbage when the go to one of these remote windward beaches. I have heard many people ask why the locals there leave all the trash.

Many people think that the garbage was left there by ignorant picnickers, and I have to explain how it all works. Let me try here…: Much of the Atlantic above the equator is like a large connected river. The currents swirl around covering thousands and thousands of miles. This map gives you an excellent guide to help explain what I am speaking about. Keep it open in another window if you like. Ok imagine you are on a yacht off England and France trying to sail into the English Channel. The winds have picked up and your trusty Tilly Hat blows off your head into the sea. There is too much work to do to tack back and retrieve the hat which has accompanied you across the Atlantic from Antigua, so you say goodbye and keep sailing on. The Tilly family made their hats for sailing and from the start had designed these fine hats to be unsinkable by using a bit of foam inside them. The Tilly hat is now flotsam and is starting a long voyage which will take it all the way back to the country of Antigua and Barbuda. The currents carry the hat way offshore France and down past Spain just missing its North Western tip as it meets up with a few wine bottles along the way.

It passes along the coast of Portugal where it bumps into fishing nets, buoys, bottles and other flotsam. It makes the crossing outside the Med on a long voyage well offshore morocco towards the Canary Islands. Bumping into a few pieces of pumice is narrowly escapes floating up onto a busy beach filled with people speaking what sounds like German. Wow that was lucky (just kidding)…..The air starts to get pretty dusty and with all the barnacles and other live stuff trying to attach themselves, it isn’t easy keeping clean. The Tilly is starting to look pretty old and the journey isn’t over yet. Passing offshore the East African coast the weather starts to get much warmer even though the haze makes the sky a bit misty. Tiny fish have started to hide under the hat and every now and then Dolphin Fish bump into it trying to catch them. The barnacles are being chewed off by oceanic trigger fish and the Tilly is now a floating habitat on course to the Caribbean. Ah ahead are some very beautiful islands and for a few days everyone thinks they have arrived in the Caribbean a bit early. Instead up washing ashore the currents make a sharp turn and the Tilly habitat escapes washing ashore on the Cape Verde islands. Beautiful place though. Days turn into weeks without seeing land and apart from a few birds which try to land on the Hat nothing unusual happens. A shark comes by to see if the Tilly is alive and gives it a good bump before slowly disappearing into the deep blue. Six weeks after leaving the Cape Verde Islands the Tilly bumps into a large clump of Sargasso Seaweed which contains a wealth of life and other floating debris. There isn’t much wind or current here and for a week or so the sea of weed seems to trap the Tilly. The winds pick up as some stormy clouds pass and once again the hat is on the move along with a nice wine bottle. The bottle has something in it and upon closer inspection it appears to have a note inside. The bottle floats past and for a week nothing comes near the hat until one afternoon after sunset a long florescent bulb comes drifting past. That night there is a noise in the distance and brightly covered sea monster comes zooming past going the opposite direction. Several days later two heavily bearded men come rowing their boat slowly past the Tilly. They look tired and appear to have had way too much sun. Both the hat and the rowers are on the same course and maybe they will meet up in the Caribbean. It gets very windy again and a very beautiful jellyfish comes sailing very rapidly past the hat trailing a thin carpet of purple and blue tentacles. One of the tiny trigger fish that was hiding under the hat is curious and gets too close. Immediately it is stunned by the tentacles which appear to drag the little fish towards the sailing blue devil.

The Portuguese Man of War has captured one from the Tilly habitat. The next day the hat floats by a funny thing: a computer screen covered in barnacles bobs up and down ever so slowly drifting in the currents. You see all sorts in this river of current. You imagine anything at all that can float and that could possibly end up in the sea and it will be there. After about 8 months of drifting and hoping to end up back in Antigua the end is near. The currents have changed a tiny bit and instead of drifting up at Green Island the Tilly makes it to its second most favorite place. It’s a tiny beach at a place called Griffin Point on the East Coast of Barbuda. Most of the fish that were hiding beneath the hat realized something was wrong as the hat tumbled through the breakers on the outer reefs. They decided to swim out past the reef into the currents in order to keep drifting with a beer crate they had seen that morning. The beer crate had more of a habitat anyway, but the Tilly had made it to land at long last. The bright sandy beach was more beautiful than could be described but it was hot. It was super hot, and before long all the barnacles and other life stuck on the hat had been bleached off by the sun. The hat lay there baking every day with only crabs, a few nesting turtles, and several migratory birds passing close by. It wasn’t until a tall lanky guy called Eli passed by that a new permanent home would be found.

Hahahaha the End? Not really….because I gotta explain what happened to the beer crate. LOL …I won’t do it like i did with the hat, but the currents that pass through the Caribbean islands make their way up to join the extremely strong Gulf Stream which goes along the east coast of the USA all the way up to Canada. All that flotsam that didn't get washed ashore carries on in this river of current. From Canada it leaves and goes back towards England where the beer crate may wash up on a nice beach on Cornwall. Things can and often make their way around the Atlantic more than one time, but any time you walk on a windward facing beach in this long journey you will find garbage that could have entered the sea anywhere along its path. Almost all the soft plastics have bite marks from fish, turtles and other wildlife. Much of the readable containers are written in Portuguese and Spanish, and some of the fishing equipment is extremely primitive suggesting poor countries like those on the west africa. There are long line glow sticks suggesting hard core commercial fishing, and all kinds of other interesting clues as to where the washed up stuff came from. Next time you see something on a beach imagine the travels it’s been on. Its a fun bit of day dreaming.

west indian cricket still has its fans

If you are a cricket fan then you will already know that the West Indies got beaten once again in their second match of the “super 8” part of the World Cup. First the Aussies thrashed us on the first match ever played at our new stadium, and then yesterday the kiwis spanked us on match two.

Yesterday’s match had some episodes of greatness, but for the most part our boys looked slow and uninterested.

Although the west Indies side did even worse than when they played the Aussies, I think New Zealand will be no match for the Aussies. Anyway, while we sat there looking at our pathetic run rate, we could only try to salvage some fun from being there. After all, we were sitting on the grass in the party stand on Trevor’s 40th birthday. Seen here with a friendly Trini supporter.

The pool seemed to be full of a mix of nationalities this time instead of all Aussies like the previous days and boy was it hot. Very little wind and almost uninterrupted sunshine made it feel like there was no ozone over the stadium. Sweat poured off of us and we had to keep making use of the drink tickets that were supplied at the entrance. With your party stand ticket, you got lunch and 9 drinks which should have been soft out there in that heat, but this is cricket in the Caribbean and nobody drinks sodas during a match. Rum and Coke was the patriotic drink of choice for Trevor’s birthday celebrations and we had plenty. Actually Pepsi is the main sponsor so coke wasn’t an option, but they seemed to go down better and better as the chances of winning seemed less and less likely. Towards the end dancing was breaking out all over the party stand and it was like a miniature carnival with the famous chickie hifi belting out some sweet West Indian tunes. There are probably very few teams who’s fans would dance and drink with so much festivity after a dramatic loss, but that is what Caribbean cricket can still cling to. We do want our team to win, but we won’t let their poor showing dampen the mood too much. West Indian captain, Brian Lara, tried to blame his team’s result on the lack of Antiguan support in the grounds, but I think he’s totally wrong. I think his comments today were unfounded and stupid. He’s lucky the fans here didn’t throw stuff at him…..instead they danced after the loss.

Australia wins at Viv Richards

It took them two days but as predicted, the 2006 World Champions, Australia, easily beat The West Indies here at home. It was the opening match at the Viv Richards Stadium and although most people here would have enjoyed a better result, i think that most of the people who actually attended the match thought it was great fun. The Aussies came out to bat first and did a very consistent job of racking up their runs. The rate was never that high, but like world champs they knew what they were doing and even with the rain distractions they managed to set a hard target for the WI to follow. The party stand where i was sitting was full to the brim filled with half of watch team's fans. All got along together in the light rain that seemed to fall for most of the afternoon. The party stand is also called "beach 366" which is kinda funny really because another business beat them to it with that name. Wapping Beach down town st. johns also uses that name, but i guess the stadium is bigger and wasn't that concerned. Anyway i think its beach 367, but whatever it is to be called the party stand is unique and as was typical antiguan form, it lived up to expectations in the party dept. What international stadium has a party section with a swimming pool and a sandy beach? The lads from down under thought the pool was the best thing since marmite and spent all day on Tuesday splashing all over the place as you could see from yesterday's blog. With the rain delays the match was postponed until Wednesday when the West Indies were set to bat in an attempt to get 300 runs plus. Yesterday's weather was more typical with extreme sun and heat.

The required run rate kept on getting larger and larger and i knew it would be hard to catch the champs. Lara had some very good 4s and a nice 6...possibly two, but with a LBW at about 77 runs we knew things were not gonna work out. In the end the world champs were victorious and the Viv Richards stadium showed them a good time. Chickie's music kept the vibe up and even the famous Gravy was there to entertain. Here are both of them from yesterday:

I am off there again right now to see our guys play New Zealand. It's trev's 40th birthday and i hope he gets a good result on it as well.

world cup cricket action

Once in a while I find myself falling back into "island mode" where everything is chilled and life moves along at a slow pace. Most people think that’s the way it is all the time but I can assure you that it's not always easy to chill out completely. I guess it helps these days to have my mom and sister helping me manage the show as well as all my great crew doing their best on the boats. Anyway, the past 10 days have been great and I have had quite a bit of free time to enjoy island life. Fishing, boating, walks on the beach, a nice outside restaurant for dinner are some of the island kinda things I have been getting up to. It almost seems like I have been busy chilling out. Is that possible? Busy and chilling don't usually go together but I just said them. Also, because of the World Cup Cricket....my business is exceptionally slow. Crazy huh? I guess most people coming here are here to do one thing...watch cricket.

Its Trevor’s birthday on Thursday and I got him a ticket for tuesday's world cup match between Australia and The West Indies. It’s was the opening match at The Viv Richards Stadium and the first time a world cup match has been played here. Because it was such a big deal, the PM gave the island a day off from work so that we could all enjoy the cricket. Unfortunately for JD, Tony and Louie, not everyone could have the day off work. Hats off to them for getting the job done yesterday while the rest of us were at cricket. Here is a pic from the aussies playing at "beach 366" in the middle of yesterdays match. I have more from yesterday but internet is acting weird so that will have to keep you going until my cricket report tomorrow. The weather has been crap so the second half of the match will be played today. Am off there now. c ya.

spring has arrived.

Spring is a time for renewal, rebirth and according to wiki, a start of better times. Its official start was this week and I have seen the changes coming recently. Spring and summer have always been my favorite times of the year in Antigua with lovely weather, fantastic events and glorious wildlife showing their colours too.
As I have mentioned already this is the time of year when humpback whales are passing through with their young calves. We haven't had the best year in terms of sightings so far but we still have quite a bit of time left before they move on into the North-West Atlantic. This is a series of photos pasted together of a mother catching some air before a dive into the abyss.
While I was out fishing last week we saw many Noddies feeding offshore. You don’t see them here that much until late spring when they start nesting all over the off-shore islands especially at bird and Rabbit Island in the north sound. If you do the eco tour in May and through the summer you will see them then. They love fishing offshore at this time of the year because various species of tuna are also feeding on the surface giving away the location of the tiny bait fish which they both feed upon. I took this pic of a feeding frenzy last week.

Speaking about bait fish...many fish are mating at the moment and by the end of spring the little fish will be hatching out all over the island. Unfortunately for them, it is also the time when many of the colonial birds will be feeding their newly born chicks....and you can imagine what they eat.
This Tuesday we will have the first ever one day international held in Antigua which will also be the 1st time a Cricket world cup match will be held here. Australia will play The West Indies at the brand new Viv Richards Stadium and there is so much excitement around it that the Gov. made the day a public holiday. We will have world cup "super 8" matches here over a 2 week span and I think there is a feeling here that our stadium will prove to be the most exciting. Trevor and I will be in the Party Stand on Tuesday and on Thursday which is his birthday and with most of the stadium sold out already it looks like it will be a great bit of action.
As soon as the cricket is over we will then have the Classic Yacht Regatta

and then Antigua Sailing Week. Its gonna be a very busy Spring this year for the birds, bees, fishies, whales, dolphins, cricketers, sailors, lovers and most others here on the island. Hope you manage to be here enjoying some of it. See you then.

i eat dolphin

"Oh my goodness!!!!!!!!!!!" "Eating dolphin....? You savages!!"

hahahaha

Dolphin fish is one of the most delicious fishes that you will find in the ocean, and it is extremely important not to confuse them with Bottled Nosed Dolphins, Spinner Dolphins, Atlantic Spotted Dolphins or any of the other species of mammals with "dolphin" in their name. For some reason Dolphin fish (Coryphaena hippurus ) have very different names depending on where you are in the world. In the French islands they are called dorade, in the Spanish speaking areas they are called dorado, in the English speaking areas they are mostly called dolphin fish, and in Hawaii they are called mahi mahi.

This pic shows a large bull or male dolphin that we caught off Barbuda while fishing with my dad. Alan, who is holding it, is one of the best butchers and cooks of wild meat that I have ever known. His fish is the best bar none!
Anyway, dolphin are very interesting fish with a fascinating way of life. Without dolphin frigate birds wouldn't survive, and I will explain why later. Dolphin get their start in the Sargasso Sea or around other floating debris which drifts slowly across the Atlantic in the ocean currents. The mother dolphin fish deposits her eggs on the Sargasso or on any other floating objects which look like they will be a safe place for small fish. Very quickly the little guys hatch out and immediately start feeding. Dolphin fish are some of the fastest growing fish in the sea because of their incredible appetite and fishing skills. Often they travel in huge schools looking for food and they will almost eat anything. Flying fish are their favorite food but they will eat all variety of fish, shrimps, squid, and crabs. Much of their prey lives among floating Sargasso Sea weed or other floating debris, and whenever we are out fishing and see something floating we prepare to hook up with a few dolphin fish. They grow very quickly after they are born and are considered one of the fastest growing fish in the sea reaching weights of up to 80 lbs. Their lifespan is a rapid story of eating, bulking up and reproduction which usually only lasts about as much as 6 years. Within a year from hatching out the hungry buggers can be 3 feet long.

Since they do such a fantastic job of reproducing and grow at such rapid rates, they are one of the few fish sought commercially that doesn’t appear to be threatened by international fishing. It’s a good thing because they are regarded as one of the most delicious and sought after fish too. With new techniques and modern equipment it is common for commercial fishermen to catch up to a thousand pounds of dolphin fish on a good day.
The meat is firm and white and quite easy to cook. The bones are large as well so it makes for a perfect fish to serve. When we catch them we skin the fish before we fillet it, as the skin is pretty tough.
Fighting them on a rod and reel is a load of fun if you like fishing as they are strong and swim very quickly. Actually the words Mahi Mahi translate to strong strong, and they have been recorded at speeds of up to 55 mph while chasing flying fish.
A good giveaway of their whereabouts are frigate birds, and whenever we go deep sea fishing we are always on the lookout for frigates. Once you see them low down you can be fairly sure that there will be dolphin around. Dolphin have the most amazing colours of all pelagic deep sea fishes and for good reason. Frigates are able to spot them feeding from a thousands meters. This is the part I love….:
Frigate birds are unable to get wet and feed only on fish. Their feathers are not waterproof and their long wingspan and tiny feet make it impossible to get out of the water if they accidentally end up in the sea. Sooo they die if they get in the water. 20% of their food is stolen from other birds in mid air usually after a good acrobatic chase in the sky. 1% they find dead floating and manage to use their long beaks to scoop it up as they hover or fly by. 79% involves fish like the dolphin, and what happens is that frigates spot the big colourful dolphin fish cruising on the surface looking for food. They keep an eye on the dolphins following them waiting patiently for the dolphin to start feeding. When the dolphin find a school of flying fish, they accelerate up to 55 mph into the school. The frigate sees this unfolding and begins to dive down close to the water’s surface. As the flying fish leap out of the water gliding away to perceived safety, the frigates grab them in mid air. It is such a fantastic thing to see unless you are the poor flying fish. The frigates which usually are so graceful, gliding up high with their slender bodies…become incredibly maneuverable fighting machines almost like tom cruise was in Top Gun. Anyway, at the end of the day, dolphin fish are a great fish and you shouldn’t feel too bad about eating these beautiful fish. Their populations seem to be doing way better than most of the other species harvested commercially in the Atlantic. Try some when you are here in Antigua. Yum Dolphins are yummy.

The first and second photos were taken by me and the last was taken by roddy from acquafilms.com and the last of the hard core fisherman was taken by Captain J-Dog. hope you enjoyed.

As high as a kite in Antigua

Since I said I would talk about kitesurfing a few blogs ago, I guess I better do it. First of all I should also speak about what kitesurfing actually is. Many people have never seen it and are blown away on our boats when we pull up alongside kiters doing their stuff. Kitesurfing is an extreme sport where a single “sailor” uses a massive kite the size of a small car to pull him/herself along the water surfing usually on a small board of some kind. Most of the boards look like wakeboards or large skateboards. There is usually about 100 feet of very strong 500lb test lines attaching the kite to a control bar, and the operator holds on to the bar for support and control of the kite. The board is steered like a skateboard is steered. Getting massive “air” or jumps is what made kitesurfing look soo cool to many including myself. While working and training for the world cup windsurfing in Maui sometime back in the mid 90s, I saw some of the first kiters trying to kite through the waves and also trying to stay upwind. It really didn’t look that good back then and many of the windsurfers though these guys were crazy. I went back to Maui in 1998 and 1999 and they had come along way. The incredibly high jumps and maneuvers were awesome, and I was very impressed. Also I was surprised at how good one could get in such a short time. The first person to Kitesurf properly in Antigua was Steve Gray who worked as a pilot at Caribbean Helicopters. Steve had what is known as a ram air kite which used air loosely trapped between the upper and lower surfaces of the kite to give it some buoyancy. Not many people were still using that type of kite which had been used originally in the beach kite buggy sport, but Steve made it look pretty good. I wanted to get into it but was still being sponsored to compete in several windsurfing competitions in the Caribbean, and wasn’t sure if I could afford to do kitesurfing as well. Anyway, after my last event I traded some of my windsurfing gear for kite gear with a friend called Marcus. His stuff was pretty advanced and the kites were some of the best you could get. They used internal air “bladders” to keep them rigid and to keep them afloat once they hit the water. There were no lessons to be had and I just figured I could follow some tips from Marcus who was now back in Hong Kong and try it at Jabbawock. Luckily I didn’t get killed but immediately understood that you had to be extremely careful with this new sport. The kites had sooooo much power that you had to give yourself plenty of room downwind. I nearly ended up in the road and decided to take a little boat up into the islands to try again. Anyway, I learned and got better each time I tried it. Before long others wanted to try and I taught quite a few of my friends. I broke my board in half one day after I learned how to jump, and needed to find something to keep me going until I got a new one. I had heard that there was a hard core wakeboard junkie on the south side of the island and just by chance met him at a party one night. Alex Portman wasn’t sold on the kitesurfing “stoke” but was happy to lend me one of his boards. I told him that once he started kitesurfing by himself…wakeboarding would seem like a waste of time and effort. I guess he listened because within a month he had a set of new gear to try out. I took him out for a few small lessons and he was up and away in no time. The thrill of being powerfully pulled along by the wind at high speeds and being able to control this massive kite is pure exhilaration. When you learn how to jump, the thrill is even more addictive. Alex and I decided that we would try to teach as many of our friends as we could and many others wanted to learn as well. The sport is soo cool to see that people from all over the place wanted to get into it. Finally we decided to set up a proper school.

We took one of his old Jet Ski trailers and turned into the first mobile kitesurfing school on Antigua. IT was fun and people were excited. IT was never run properly as a business because both Alex and myself had other things going on, but we taught many people in those early days. We had hired one of our first students to teach as he had done very well during the learning process. Andre Phillip who is now an international kitesurfing brand almost learned in about 15 seconds one day after I briefly told him how it all worked. He was our first teacher, and KiteAntigua started slowly turning over some business.
Over the next few years the school went through some big changes with instructors coming and going, and eventually an additional partner coming in to run it properly. Nik is a very organized yacht surveyor and lover of xtreme sports. He was the perfect partner to have involved and did an excellent job of turning our hobby into a business. Anyway we had some very bad luck with winds one year and the business didn’t do well enough to maintain itself. Nik was worried and eventually we closed it down last year. Today the school is back open thanks to Alex’s persistence and perseverance and the lessons are carrying on without me or nik being involved. We are all happy that its back up and running though, and Adam teaching most days in between doing his graphics business. The funny (not funny at all) thing is that both Adam and I hurt our knees doing kitesurfing.

Adam had a pre existing condition that didn’t like the choppy conditions off jabbawock beach and I actually broke my knee in two places after landing badly form a huge jump. Needless to say that neither of us Kitesurf anymore, but we would if we could.
The school is still at jabbawock beach and can be found on this website. If you would like to find out about lessons call Adam directly on 720 kite. Its actually a pretty safe sport if you have instruction and don’t think you are a super hero. I though I was a superhero and forgot that I was actually not even a youngster anymore. Lol Its loads of fun and you should go check them out at the very least as its beautiful to watch.

The first photo is of Alex getting high off jabbawock, and the second is of Adam teaching in the early days of the school. The third is of me doing an old school move in the old days before knee operations.

Say hi to the crew:

Adventure Antigua is proud of its exceptional crew. We love what we do..... it's more than just a job. It's a lifestyle.

Here is the blog entry introducing Capt. JD (a.k.a. "J-Dog").

Here is the blog entry introducing Capt. Tony (a.k.a "Tony baloney").


Here is the blog entry introducing Trevor (a.k.a "trev").

Here is an entry speaking about Jason.

Here is one speaking about Wan Lovv (one love)

Here is one speaking about Chris.

Here is a blog entry speaking about the all rounder Serge

"sahara dust"

So ya...the purple haze from yesterday's post is all here..

This morning the haze isn't as bad as it was yesterday thankfully, but its still there and we won't be seeing Montserrat today on the south side. "Sarah Dust" also known as African Dust comes across the Atlantic every year blanketing the region in haze. Many people think incorrectly that the haze has something to do with Montserrat's, but the world's most studied volcano, Soufriere, has nothing to do with it. What happens is that high winds blow massive quantities of dust from western and northern Africa up into the sky. Millions and millions of tons a year of it comes across the Atlantic passing through the Caribbean traveling on the same trade winds that brought the original European settlers here. The dust reaches the south-eastern part of the usa too. There is loads of info on all of this on the web these days and after googling "african dust" i came across many articles on it. Anyway, what most of them agree upon is that since the early 1970s the mass and content of the dust has changed dramatically. Yesterday there was yet another terrible report about glaciers melting, but equally scary is how the deserts are growing. Extreme droughts possibly to do with the "green house effect" as well as changing land and water use has resulted in more land losing its vegetation. Of course this results in more dust getting into the air, but that isn't the worst of it. Since the 1970's there has also been a change in the composition of the dust. There is now all kinds of pollutants contained inside the dust and many scientists are now attributing much of the decline in our coral reefs to this increase in african dust. It’s quite logical actually because we all know that when coral is covered with silt of any kind in can die, so with african dust filled with pesticides and all the other nasties covering the coral each year, it’s not hard to make the connection. Poor coral! There are so many things killing it off that i think much of it is gone forever. Sadly, i remember when i was a teenager just 15 years ago snorkeling on huge coral forests teaming with life. See the movie Finding Nemo....that's what the reef was like here back then. All of a sudden we had a few mega-hurricanes and most of the reef was gone. Many people blame the hurricanes which were stronger than Antigua had seen in over 2000 years (a fact that i will talk about another time), but the reef's decline wasn't just because of the storms. If you are interested in reading more then bookmark this link on coral and african dust.

I suppose it will take more time and study to find out all the negative effects of this increase in african dust, but there is at least one positive result. Kind of... Using satellite imagery, the NAOAA people predict when we in the Caribbean will get "african dust surges", and we actually know days in advance when it will be hazy. This is an image of dust coming off Africa.

Check here for more of these images. They have done many studies on the effects of the dust on our weather and have concluded without a doubt that increased levels of the dust can hinder hurricane formation which is wildly interesting to me. Considering the fact that due to "global warming" we are forecast to have more conducive conditions for extreme hurricane formation, it is also interesting that also due to global warming the increase in dust helps to deter these storms from forming. The way it works is that the dust doesn’t come across the Atlantic in a constant stream and instead comes in big waves almost like weather fronts. If good hurricane forming conditions and the dust appear in the same area, then water droplets inside the clouds become too heavy when mixed with the dust and fall out of the sky before they get a chance to become huge thunderstorms. The dust kills the storms before they get a chance to turn into hurricanes. There are many articles on all of this here if you are interested.
Other issues that you may not think about which are due to the dust have to do with the mess it makes. My boats are covered in brown clay like dust after weekends like this. I know that we will have to clean them tomorrow morning because of this hazy weekend.

I am glad i don't have to clean sails! Many of the yachts doing crossings come in with dirty sails and even aircraft have trouble on the leading edges of their equipment.
My eyes have given me more and more problems over the past few years and i sometimes wonder if it’s due to all the time i spend in the outdoors in contact with this increased dust. According to several studies, an increase in certain diseases can also be attributed to african dust. Great!...another thing to worry about right? If you are one of those people interested or worried about germs...check this out: Sorry:) There is another interesting health report on This one too.
Anyway, there is a hell of a lot interesting info to digest on the whole "Sahara dust" topic and i hope you found it as interesting as i said it would be. It’s a good thing it’s not all negative though. That thing about the hurricanes is gonna make me sleep better in the summer. One of the other cool things that can happen as a result of the dust is the sunsets.

They even have articles on that. The pics above are of cool dusty sunsets. The satellite one is of dust coming off Africa.

Purple Haze

LAst night i was in the mood for a beer or two after a nice dinner with the Acqua Films crew. I drove down to The Coast where most of the Adventure Antigua team were already soaking up a few, and the place was packed. The Coast disco and bar is adjacent to Kings Casino in St Johns, and it has recently turned into the place to be if you are not liming on the South side. By the way, "liming" is a caribbean word that means hanging out socially.
Anyway, i got home pretty late and was hoping for a nice lay in today, but of course that can never happen when you want it to. At 7 am i jumped out of bed to the smell of burning plastic....i thought at first it was my electrical fan having a melt down but that seemed to be working well. I ventured outside to see a purple haze enveloping the house. Hoping that my house wasn't on fire i ran upstairs only to finally see where the source of this smoke was coming from. My considerate neighbors had decided to burn their garbage which by the way is kept very close to the windward side of our property. What a lovely smell burning plastic is...NOT!!!!!!!
Once i am up its hard for me to go back to sleep so here i am writing my blog. hehe i missed it yesterday as i spent most of the day finishing up the ZAP CAT. My buddie Stevie, came and helped me put the boat on a trailer and attach the motor. We decided to try and start the engine before going to the marina and a good thing too, gasoline poured out when we attached the fuel line. The line to the carbereuator was cut, and we had to do some quick mechinc work to get that fixed. The engine had been sitting for so long that i was worried it wouldn't start, but the 55 hp two stroke fired up after one pull of the cord. We were now in business.
We launched at the Shell Beach Marina and went up into the North Sound for a few hours, and pulled up next to Francis who was ancbhored off Welch Rock doing the last snorkeling session on the Eco Tour. The water was beautiful and the sky clear. Yesterday was a lovely day to be on the sea, and i was sooo happy to finally have the little cat back on the water.
Anyway, after the fire next door had burned itself to death thismorning, i noticed that it wass still very hazy, and I decided to write about the haze that we experience so often at this time of year in the islands. If you are living here or visiting you will sometimes notice how one day is sooooo clear and the next totally hazy. I hear people comment on it and am always surprised how few people know what the haze is. To me its incredibly interesting information and tomorrow i will blog about that. Trust me, if you don't know about it, you will be facinated too. Happy Saturday!
The top photo is of Captain Tony on the way in from a tour during a hazy sunset.

Go learn how to windsurf

Much of my identity is associated with windsurfing so i will always have a soft spot for the sport. I think you should give it a try when u are here. Like i said in yesterday's post, i learned when i was 12 years old back in the old days when windsurfing was one of the fastest growing sports on the planet. IT was hot back then, but that wasn't the reason i got hooked. I think the thing that got me hooked was the fact that i was told that i wouldn't be any good at it. That got me determined to learn, and once i got started i realized how pure a sport it was for a person like me. All by yourself you can go out into the natural environment speeding with the wind and waves being your fuel. It’s a way to be independent and yet it can be a very social sport. I leaned very quickly back then as i lived just up the hill from Windsurfing Antigua which got started the same year. Before i turned 13 i was invited to join Windsurfing Antigua Week 1985 which was a windsurfing regatta sailing around Antigua. One of the big races was a huge marathon from Jolly Beach all the way across to the island of Montserrat. There was a practice race the day before and i did well and was encouraged to do the island crossing. Anyway, the next day after we got started the winds died down and we slowly made our way across the 31 miles of open ocean towards the "emerald isle". There were about 20 of is racing and probably about 6 or 7 chase boats hanging with us. I wanted to quit a few times but decided that i had to make it, and was delighted to reach the hot dark volcanic beach four hours after i started. From that day onwards i raced in every competition that i could join across the Caribbean. When i was 16 i was chosen to be the alternate representative in windsurfing for Antigua at the Korean Olympics . I ended up doing better than Inigo Ross (who later co founded Wadadli Cats) during the training and in the end replaced him and was sent over to race in Korea. It was as amazing an experience as you can imagine for a 16 year old island boy. Anyway for the next twelve years i raced all over the world eventually joining the Professional Windsurfing Associations World Tour. The sport really took me far and wide and helped me develop into the person that i am. It’s a difficult sport to learn on your own which is what i did back in 1984, but today with the excellent lessons and more modern gear it isn't that difficult. The rush from gliding along the water with winds in your sails that you can feel and tame....well it is totally addictive. There is no age that is too old or too young in my opinion. I have seen all ages out there enjoying the wind and the waves. Windsurfing Antigua is now mobile and is teaching most days except Mondays on jabbawock beach. That's on the north side about 3 miles from the airport, and Patrick Scales is doing the teaching there.


He will have you "bending your knees and feeling the breeze" in no time. Keep this number 461 WIND (9463) or mobile 773 9463 and give him a call when u are next here. I think his email is windsurfingantigua@hotmail.com. Anyway at the least go check it out because Jabbawock is such a beautiful beach, and the kite school is there as well. I will talk about the kite school sometime soon. The top shot is of me in my last race a couple of years ago in the BVI. The other pic is of the windsurfing school and was taken by Mark the photo guy. He's great!

mini Xtreme

Since i started windsurfing at the age of 12 i have always been drawn to speed and extreme sea sports. In 2005 my knee was killing me and was not getting better after my second operation. The crushed tibia plateau had also ended up getting mixed up with torn cartilage. I had stopped windsurfing and kitesurfing and needed some kinda rush almost like a junkie not getting a fix. I felt lost without some sort of adrenalin rush and after seeing a friend zoooming over the waves on something he called a ZAPCAT i knew i had to get one....and i did.



Anyway, these little boats are only 13 feet long and have way too much power. They are like angry dinghies on iv steroids, and after seeing some of the videos i knew i would love to get involved. Anyway, it was very hard finding one made by Zapcat, and i finally located a copy cat company in the USA called Dux Inflatable who said that theirs were stronger and better. These things need a very unusual design of engine which carries a shorter shaft length than most other motors. Also they are steered by tiller and not by wheel which gives you direct control and feel over the engine. I finally found a us made engine which was only made for export that fit the design specs and got it all shipped.
At the end of the day this was a big toy that could be used as a tender to my boats if needed. Anyway, once i set it up i realized that this was a super high performance machine which wasn't to be messed with. I never used a hand held GPS to check the speed but it felt like it could do 50 mph, but the craziest thing about it was the turns and acceleration. They turn on a dime because of the type of bottom they have, and also float over waves because of the air that gets trapped between the hulls.
The video above and this one were both taken in barbuda during our carnival holiday. lots of silly holiday fun.

The ZAPCAT is a mini catamaran with loads of power behind it. Most dinghies that size have 15 or 20 hp motors but these usually use between 40 and 55 hp engines on them. I could only find a 55. After using it and abusing it for a year i managed to damage the transom (what the engine attaches to) as well as a few other problems. I knew the job was going to be big and during the summer David and i got some of the prelim work done. This past weekend Tony and i used the machined metal brackets i had made to reinforce the transom. We didn't finish and it’s taken me the past few days to get it all bolted together and ready for the engine to go back on. I do have one little leak to fix too and then she's ready to launch. One of the reasons i am excited about getting it fixed up and back on the water is that a couple of friends here now have them and are interested in having races and "poker runs". Should be some good Xtreme fun out on the water on weekends. I will be sure to get some good pics and video when i get it sorted but for now it’s just mpeg video. I hope u enjoy this light bit of fun. The top video was taken by roddy using my little sony cam. He was supposed to throw the tiny anchor into the sand near the reef but decided it would be fun to throw my camera over too. ha ha it was funny afterwards. The snorkeling was great too. This vid below is of crazy zap cat crashes....and stuff that i won’t be doing. ouch!!!




and if you are super bored and want to see one more vid of us going too fast, too shallow and too close to a deserted beach in barbuda check this one:

cricket world cup

ouch! i just pressed "publish" and lost everything i had written. I had researched and written a nice blog about the cricket world cup. wow....don't u just hate when the computer eats your work. i feel sick. anyway, i will include a good article about today’s match which was the first of the 2007 cricket world cup. It is the first time it has been held in the West Indies and no home team has ever been triumphant at the end of it all. However, with the hype and incredible pride, history, and talent that is west indian cricket, we may have an upset in store for the world. This is the second biggest sporting event behind the football world cup, and although the west indies isn't a country, together we are united as one when it comes to this ground beaking cricket even. Trevor is the main man at Adventure Antigua when it comes to cricket playing for the stingray city team here during the winter and for a team in england during the summer. It's his birthday on March 29th and i will be joining him at the party stand to see a world cup match at our new stadium. Its gonna be a huge party. After all Antigua was the first country to have musical entertainment during an international cricket match. It’s a shame that i lost my original post, but tomorrow i will use microsoft word first before pasting it here. I took the photos during the Stanford 20 20 which was the best sporting event i have ever seen.

It was that event last year that got me interested in cricket for the first time in my life. Read this article for more on today's match. Well done windies.

how about something more serious

With the fun and jokes of the last post about coconuts i thought possibly it may be time for some serious business once again. I wrote the following article about 2 years ago when things in the North Sound where i live were looking pretty bad. Since then Stanford has decided to stop his plans on maiden island and now is trying to sell the idea of his 2 billion us dollar development to the people of antigua. i went to a 2.5 hour presentation last week that his public relation team was showing which describes in detail his proposals and plans. I will have to fill you guys in on that next week. For now though you can read something i wrote 2 years ago. The observer newspaper decided that it wasn't worth putting in their paper so it never really got anywhere. I had written it to them to try to get people to think about where Antigua was going. To me it still is as important a dilemma as it was back then. It’s a long read, but perfect for a weekend relaxation or as the rastas say "ibration". If you are an antiguan or love antigua please give it a try: http://www.antiguaadventures.com/eco-article.htm

A Coconut Republic

Since i was a kid i have been intrigued with coconut trees and coconuts in general. My earliest memories are of "tyrone" coming to my grandparents’ hotel in an old dilapidated pickup with a bunch of young scruffy guys to "clean the trees". My grandfather's property had loads and loads of coconut trees on it and the danger of a coconut falling and causing injury was always a problem. Instead of paying someone to come and cut down old branches and take down ripe nuts, he would call tyrone. Tyrone's business wasn't cleaning trees at all, but was really selling coconuts and coconut water. When my cousins and i were little there were two important occasions when we would all gather around. The most important was when the lobster man came....we would wait around while 20 or 30 lobster were boiled in a big pot so that we could get the legs that dropped off. Yum yum....we could never get enough freshly boiled lobster legs. I still think they are the best thing on a lobster. Of course the other time was when tyrone and his men came to clean the trees. Those guys seemed to just walk up the 40 foot tall coconut tree like it was on level ground. In those days they just had a rope and a machete and they would climb up and pull themselves into the branches. Once up there they would tie one end of the rope onto a bunch of coconuts, cut the stalk and then lower it down to be untied by someone below. Usually trees would have several bunches. Once all the nuts were collected and taken back to the truck it was our turn to feast. Tyrone could open a "jelly" in about 3 seconds, chopping away the bottom of the nut in a blur. Now it was nearly impossible for a kid under 10 to drink all the water out of a jelly nut, but we would try every time. Once you gave up or miraculously finished it, you would hand it back to him. Tyrone would then cut a "spoon" from the side of the nut and then chop it in half. These guys never wore gloves or shoes, we would marvel at how skillful they were. Now i guess i should clarify what a "jelly" is before i go on. A jelly is a green or young coconut that hardly has any "meat" inside of it. The meat is very thin and delicious with a soft consistency kinda like jellow or jelly. None of us would ever dream of eating hard coconut.....yuk.

Anyway, when i was about 6 years old my parents split up and my mom took us off to England. One of the things i remember is seeing old hard coconuts without the "husk" on them in the markets there. Mom got one once so that we wouldn't forget what they were like, but the meat inside the old coconut was about half of an inch thick and dry as hell. That was good for cooking with bit not fit for eating just like that. Man i missed those green jelly nuts. Anyway, my mom realized this a few years later and we move back home thank god.

Anyway, since then i have always chuckled under by breath whenever i have seen tourists try to open coconuts. One great one is when they find an ancient brown coconut that has been on the ground for months and think that they are going to find something delicious inside. The pain and suffering that unfolds next while this unfortunate soul frustratingly tries in vain to open the thing is comical in an evil kinda way. I am sorry but it’s true. Another good one is when a proud dad tries to do some father son bonding when he finds a big fully mature coconut on the beach. He nods to his son as if to say "look what your dad is gonna do son...you are gonna love this". After 15 minutes of bruised fingers, sweat carrying sunscreen into his eyes, and a few curse words thrown in for good measure..the dad finally says, "son this one isn’t any good".

Now that is even sadder than the first one so the purpose of this blog is to help all the dads out there make their son's proud. If you come across a coconut in the future you will be able to open it with your bare hands after reading the rest of this. I am even gonna throw in pics too.

As a single guy, who doesn't have kids i still happen to know what it feels like to open a coconut for loved ones as you will see below. I am going to use my "kids", Sparky and Lila in this guide. They both worship coconuts and have done since they were little pups. This pic is of them bringing their dad the nut they have found:

You don't want to have a coconut that is too dark. The darker and older looking it is, the more hard the coconut meat is going to be, and if it’s too dark or even brown the nut can be sour. Green ones have the jelly and with a little yellow or even orange in it they are gonna have some good meat inside the nut. Once you have the nut you want to find a rock, a pavement or a bit of concrete. Just so you know, it will stain the ground so don't get the hotel upset if you are using their nice walkway. haha

Ok, hold it firmly in your hand with the top of the nut facing up. The top is the side that was once attached to the tree. This first photo is of the bottom and it’s the side that will be facing down, and is also the side you will be hitting directly onto the rock or walkway.

Hold it tight and hit that end down hard being careful to hit it "plum" right on the bottom, and don't let it go. After one good hit you may see vertical cracks appear, but you must keep hitting it a few more times sometimes. Anyway, the worst thing to do is to try to pull off a section before they are all ready to come off. You see, the nut will almost always split into thirds and you want to keep them together until all are ready to separate. Sometimes they don't all come free at the same time, so keep hitting it on the bottom and eventually it will open up like this (this is the top and not the end you are hitting against the rock):

From here you should be able to start pulling of the outer skin. You will be left with a very furry looking thing like this:

Throughout the opening process you must always remember which side is top and which side is bottom. Now you have to hit the opposite side or the top side in order to free up the thickest part of the fuzzy "husk". After a few decent hits you should be able to just peel it all away like this:

Keep peeling and you will end up with a nut that is clean and ready to be opened. At this point your onlookers with be intently looking on with anticipation and watering mouths (like this:)

Without tools this is tricky if you want to drink the coconut water. You now have to tap around the bottom of the nut moving it each time you tap it so as to try to create cracks around the edges. You should end up with something like this or better:

If you are lucky you will be able to take some of the shell out and drink the water. This takes some skill and luck. If it doesn't go well and the water leaks all over the place all you need to do is hit the nut a few more times and start sharing the bounty. I can open a coconut this way in about 3 minutes in a rush. It can be a bit more difficult taking the older and harder coconut meat off the shell once its open, but you can just let them gnaw at is which is what lila loves to do anyway. Hope you had a laugh and will use this guide some day. If you have any questions please use the comment section and i or some other coconute expert will answer.